Folding chair



N09. 11, 1941- u. KJJOHANNSEN' FOLDING CHAIR Filed 00%. 30, 1959 WW W2mw m Q JW Patented. Nov. 11,1941

1f,UNITED{STATES PATENT OFFICE p .1 azcasqo a n n h e W [FOLDING 01mm"UdoK. Johannsen, Cortland, N. Y., assignor to 1 The Brewer-TitchenerCorporation, Cortland, i 1 N. Y .,acorporationof New York l z ipplication olctober 30, 1939, Serial No. 301,901

l e-claims. o1. ts- 142) 1 The present invention relates toran improvedcollapsible chair of the so-called inverted Y type including a rigidU-shaped front leg framework having a pair of rear prop legs pivotallyattached thereto, and the instant improvements are more particularlydirected to an effective link-age for conveniently folding a floatingseat panel 'ar. ranged to be independently tipped upwardly whileitsunfoldedsupporting structure remains erecti e I 1 --Different groupsofchairs may be clamped together tdconstitute aseries of closely spacedrows of chairs. In such connection, certain ristionresults'inaconsiderable increase in seating capacity for agiven auditorium floorspace.

. The guided. upper ends of the rear prop legs areherein attached toamedial portion or, their respective. front legs by shiftableself-locking links andia pair of panel supporting bars pivotally bridgethe erected chair legs beneath the level .of the opened. seat panel.Such swingable prop links and said bars areso coordinated and remotelyactuated that when shifting saidlinks into Qne eXtreme of"travel, .thefioating seat panelmay be automatically folded by an extremely simpleand obvious manipulation requiring the which is kept symmetrical aboutthe reference line AB, l0 denotes it-s rigid U-shaped frame preferablyfabricated from bent tubular metal stock; A concaved backrest ll maybemounted in the yoke region ofsuch frame and cut away to constitute acentralized hand grip I2. The reuse iof butone hand, all'chair elementsbeing simultaneously collapsed without having to directly handlethe'underlying supportingbars duringthe folding ofmyopened seat panel.

stacked when not inause,

Reference is had to the annexed one sheet drawings which areillustrativeof aspecific embodiment, and in which drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of an erected chair assembly equippedwith my'preferred linkage, whileFig. 2 is a top view thereof.

Fig.3"shows a rear endview of Fig. 2. Fig. '4 depictsan elevational sideview of my chair asit appears when fully collapsed. Fig. 5 illustratesan enlarged fragmental detail of my leg linkage in its open position astaken along line AB of Fig. 2, and Fig; 6 is a partial bottom viewofFig.5. a 1

Referring more specifically to the structural detailsof my inverted Ytype of folding chair s'pective fioor contacting front leg ends may eachbeprovided with a rubber shoe such as l3 and a rung l4 may span thefront leg structure.

A pair of. rear prop legs I5 and I6 may each be pivotallyconnectedinwardly away from their respective upper endregions as at I1,preferably by the use of twin guide links [8 and IQ for each propleg.Such multiple links augment rigidity of the proplegs. The respectiveopposite link end niay be pivoted at 20 to' an intermediate portiorr ofa corresponding front leg, said pivot 20 lying above the level of theunfolded seat panel 2| as" shown. The floor contacting end of eachrearleg may likewise be provided with shoes and have a prop rung 22located adjacent thereto serving as treadle means for manipulating myfolding chair. 3 e

As an additionalVtie between the front and rear legs; I provide for;mated seat supporting bridge bars 23 and 24. which as detailed in Figs.5 and6, respectively include a forward extending projection 23' or 24that may be integrally cross-connected at 25. The rear end of each suchbar may be pivoted at 21 to a contiguous prop legand provided with aninterposed washer 28. Between the ends of each supporting bar, anintermediate .pivot 29 may be riveted to the frontleg and ,preferablyembraced by a reenl forcingspacer bushing 30. The forward end regionfcreach such bar projection extending onwardly beyond the frontleg pivot29, may carry a rubber buffer or other noiseless cushioning element 3|upon which the lowered seat panel rests in its: operative position. Q

"The curved seat panel 2| of substantially rec-v tangular contour maybefabricated from thin plywood or in any other suitable manner and may beprovided-with an underlying angle iron framebf U-shape to comprise apair of reenforcing side rails such as 32 of which the respective rearends may be riveted at 33 to a mated supporting bar, preferably betweenthe riveted] (and 29 so that the rear paneledge may extend back of thelast namedpivot. -The depending flanges of the panel side rails 32 arepreferably kept spaced wider than the bars 23 and '24 and such flangesmay respectively be recessedlat 3513c obviate interference with theircooperating bushingsfll. A crpssstrap such as 34 may also be rivetedbeneath the rear panel edge for lateral stiffening purposes.

As schematically indicated in Fig. 3, a plurality of my folding chairsmay be alignedly located alongside each other into row formation bymeans of multiple front leg clamps such as 35. By the use of a guidelink connection for the upper extremit of each rear prop, no rubbingaction occurs lengthwise of either chair leg and hence does not tend tomar the enamel finish that may be given to the several chair components.Having described the structural aspects of my improved chair linkage,its mode of operation may be traced as follows:

When erected as in Fig. 1, the seat panel 2! may be independently liftedthrough its dotted position 2|. The seat occupant may therefore rise andunobstructedly step back between the front legs toward the rung I4 toallow others more freely to pass in front of such occupant while theseveral erected chair legs remain fully spaced apart without anycollapse.

In order to fold my chair, the operator need merely tread upon the proprung 22 and simultaneously lift the hand grip l2. Thereupon the links [8and I9 will be caused to swing about their pivot 20 into an opposedextreme of travel and be brought into the fully folded relationrepresented by Fig. 4. Such simple manipulation at the same timecooperatively turns the supporting bars 23 and 24 around theirrespective front leg pivots 29 as indicated in dotted outline by Fig.and thereby automatically carries the seat along into full collapse.Hence, although my floating seat panel is kept independently liftablewhen erected for use without tending to draw the rear prop legs towardthe front legs, it is unnecessary to reach beneath the seat panel orotherwise directly actuate my supporting bar to initiate collapse of theerected legs.

A reversal of the cited folding operations, brings about a convenientand positive unfolding of my chair into its erected operative positionwherein the respective upper extremities of the prop legs are made tofirmly contact behind the front legs and are stabilized by theself-locking links I 8 and H) to withstand comparatively heavy bodyloading without undue side sway. In the present linkage, such actuatedside links are disposed to positively control the folding or unfold-[iii ing movement of the panel supporting bars 23 and 24 and as aconsequence the floor contacting shoes of the folded rear legs will becarried outwardly beyond those of the front legs as in Fig. 4.

It will also be observed that when collapsed, the bar projections 23 and24' are made to fall into substantial alignment with the plane of thefront leg frame [0.

As will be obvious to those skilled in this art, various equivalentstructural changes may be resorted to in carrying out my illustrativeembodiment, all without departing from the spirit and scope of myinvention heretofore described and more specifically defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A collapsible chair of the inverted Y type adapted to be unfoldedinto erected position and comprising a pair of yoke interconnected frontlegs, a pair of rung connected rear prop legs, shiftable guide linkmeans pivoted to the upper end portion of each such prop leg and to 'acorresponding front leg, said link means being rockable in unison abouttheir respective front leg pivots and in one direction of movementserving to carry said prop ends upwardly into locked abutment with theirrespective front legs when the chair is erected, mated bridge barslocated beneath said link means and respectively pivoted to a front legand to its corresponding prop leg, said bars each including a forwardprojection that in erected position extends horizontally beyond thefront leg pivot thereof as a seat panel upholding agency, and a floatingseat panel of which a rear marginal region is pivotally mounted to spanthe respective bars having a medial region that liftably rests upon theerected bar projections, said bridge bars being actuated by theirrespective prop legs when the link means are rocked in a reversedirection and thereby automatically bringing the seat panel intosubstantial alignment with the several folded legs.

2. A collapsible chair of the inverted Y type adapted to be unfoldedinto erected position and comprising a pair of parallel front legs lyingin a common plane, a pair of rung connected rear prop legs, shiftableguide link means pivoted to the upper end portion of each such prop legand to 'a corresponding front leg, said link means being rockable inunison about their respective front leg pivots and in one extreme ofsuch travel serving to carry the said prop ends upwardly into lockedabutment with their respective front legs when the [chair is erected,mated bridge bars respectively pivoted to a front leg and to itscorresponding prop leg, said bars each including a forward projectionthat in erected position inclines upwardly and extends beyond the frontlegpivot thereof, and a floating seat panel of which a rear marginalregion is pivotally mountedto span the respective bars having anotherpanel region that liftably rests upon the erected bar projections, saidlink means when shifted downwardly into an opposed extreme of travelserving to cooperatively collapse the several chair legs and therebyautomatically fold said bar extensions into substantial parallelism withthe front leg plane.

3. A collapsible chair of the inverted Y type adapted to unfold intoerected position and comprising a pair of yoke interconnected frontlegs, a pair of rung connected rear prop legs, actuatable guide linkmeans pivoted to the upper end portion of each such prop'leg and to acorresponding front leg, said link means being rockable in unison abouttheir respective front leg pivots and in one direction of movementserving to carry said prop ends upwardly into locked abutment with theirrespective front legs when the chair is erected, mated bridge bars thatare laterally offset and respectively pivoted interiorly to an adjacentfront leg and to its corresponding prop leg, said bars each including aforward projection that in erected position extends beyond the front legpivot thereof and provides for an inward clearance spacing with respectto the front leg, and a floating seat panel reenforced by opposed siderails respectively adapted to lie within a registering clearance spacebetween a bridge bar and a front leg and having the respective rear railends tiltably riveted to the exterior of a contiguous bar, said bridgebars being actuated by their respective prop legs when said link meansare rocked in a reverse direction and thereby automatically folding theseat panel into substantial alignment with the several legs.

4. A collapsible chair of the inverted Y type adapted to unfold intoerected position and comprising a pair of yoke interconnected frontlegs, a pair of rung connected rear prop legs, shiftable guide linkmeans pivoted to the upper end portion of each such prop leg and to acorresponding front leg, said. link means being rookable in unison abouttheir respective front leg pivots and in one direction of movementserving to carry said prop ends upwandly into abutment with theirrespective front legs when the chair is erected, mated bridge barsrespectively pivoted to a front leg and to its corresponding prop leg,

said bars each including a forward projection that in erected positionextends horizontally beyond the front leg pivot thereof and whichprojections are cross connected, buffer means located adjacent to suchcross-connection, and a floating seat panel of which a rear marginalregion is pivotally mounted between the respective bars having a medialregion liftably resting upon the buffer means, said bridge bars beingactuated by their respective prop legs when the link means are rocked ina reverse direction and thereby automatically fold said bars intosubstantial alignment with the several legs.

UDO K. J OHANNSEN.

